Eliminating poverty whilst travelling

While tourism has a huge potential to lift entire populations out of poverty, currently only 5% of the revenue from tourism stays within local communities. Solely profit-driven tourism can also have adverse impacts on local communities. Through travelling with Hands on Development, you can ensure that you travel responsibly and help reduce poverty in Nepal.

What is Responsible Tourism?

In short, responsible tourism minimises the negative effects of unsustainable travel while creating economic benefits for local people and facilitating meaningful cultural exchanges. For obvious reasons, responsible tourism therefore has the ability to support the realisation of the first SDG, which aims to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030 — with a particular focus on supporting marginalised groups such as women and the disabled.

How you can make a difference

So how can you travel responsibly while supporting the SDGs? Hands on Development run ethical tours to Nepal with a particular focus on social, financial and environmental sustainability. By going on a tour with Hands on Development, you can directly help economically empower marginalised communities in Nepal.

Specifically, Hands on Development employs local women as tour guides, allowing them to achieve financial independence. As part of the tour, participants will engage in genuine cultural exchanges by participating in Nepali, craft and cooking classes. In turn, the profits from these classes help to fund the training and employment pathways of disabled and marginalised women who are often denied the opportunity to work. The tour also visits and directly supports various local enterprises, such as the craft business run out of Seven Women’s headquarters in Kathmandu.

So, next time you’re looking to get away, holiday with a difference and directly support poverty reduction by choosing to travel with Hands on Development!